Type Private Area served Worldwide | Industry Adventure travel Founder Aravind Bremanandam | |
Founded Chennai, India (2006 (2006)) Headquarters Budapest, Hungary; Chennai, India Key people Aravind Bremanandam, Attila Berenyi | ||
Travel Scientists is a motorsports adventure tourism operator that was founded in 2006 by Aravind Bremanandam in Chennai, India, with the Indian Autorickshaw Challenge as the company's first rally. The company's work had quickly gained popularity, and, in 2012, Lonely Planet named the The Rickshaw Challenge as one of the “World’s Top 10 Greatest Adventures.”
Contents
History
The company's first rally, the Indian Autorickhsaw Challenge, was held in 2006. In 2007, while on an adventure rally in Bamako, Mali, the company's founder met Attila Berenyi, an adventure traveler from Hungary, and they had decided to bring minimal assistance motor vehicle adventure tourism to Europe.
The first European event was the Caucasian Rally that started from Budapest on August 30, 2008, from Memento Park and went through Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo, Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Kurdistan, before finishing in Yerevan, Armenia, on September 15.
According to Attila Berenyi, Travel Scientists went on to hold "dozens" of rallies since then, holding from one to three rallies a year across India, Europe, and Russia.
Rallies
Its most famous rally is the Indian Autorickshaw Challenge, also known as The Rickshaw Challenge, which started in 2006 in India. The rally features different rules, such as the 12-day-long, 2,000 kilometer long Rickshaw Challenge Mumbai Xpress, featured in the Hit The Road: India documentary film.
As of 2016, Travel Scientists operate the following minimal rallies across Europe, India, and Central Asia:
Controversy
The Azerbaijani Embassy in Hungary had received a notice from Azerbaijan because of the company holding "tours to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan arranged by The Travel Scientists company, of which the headquarters are located in Budapest as part of the Caucasian Challenge," according to the Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Hikmet Hajiyev, in 2014.
“We have sent an inquiry to the Azerbaijani Embassy in Hungary in this regard, the activity of the company is being thoroughly investigated, and the relevant bodies will be appealed. The Republic of Hungary recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, there are close friendly relations between the two countries. However, organization of visits and tours to the occupied territories by any foreign company ignoring the international law in other country is an evidence of illegal activity. Serious measures must be taken against such companies and organizations,” Hikmet Hajiyev had said.
Press
The Indian Autorickshaw Challenge and the other rallies from The Travel Scientists have been widely covered by international press, such as The Guardian, and various publications across India and Hungary, such as The Budapest Sun, The Times of India, Mumbai Mirror, Asian Age, and more.
In 2014, Vagabundo Magazine had sent staff to participate in the rallies organized by the company, with the journalists joining two events across twelve different countries, and eventually writing that The Travel Scientists are "a company to keep an eye on, offering some seriously cool, adrenaline-injected challenges."